Yippie Cafe to Reopen This Month

Earlier today, EV Grieve reported that the Yippie Museum Cafe is under renovation. We now have more details about what the place will look like when the work is done.

When customers walk in, they’ll notice that the carpet, which dated back to the 1980′s, is gone. That’s because the cafe’s manager, Robert Payne, had the carpet pulled up and thrown away. Now after stepping in the front entrance, customers will see a black, rubber mat covering the hardwood floor.

After taking a few more steps into the cafe, customers will see stencil designs on the wood floor. Customers will also notice that the loft that loomed over the cafe’s cash register is gone. Mr. Payne, who plans to create the designs for the floors, decided the loft was taking up too much space. On the walls, customers will see the same Yippie posters and psychedelic art that was there before, but Mr. Payne will have the art restored, so the images will look like new.
The chairs, poetry readings, tables, jazz and folk music, and theater plays will all be the same, but the menu will be different.

Just before the cafe closed on June 8, Mr. Payne said the cafe served a cup of coffee for 75 cents and individual Oreo cookies. The cookies are now off the menu, but the 75 cent coffee will stay.

Along with coffee, Mr. Payne will add scones, sandwiches and salads to the menu. In the fall, he plans to introduce a line of soups. The menu will also feature a wider variety of coffee drinks, natural sodas and 21 kinds of natural tea.

Mr. Payne, 43, said the renovations are designed to attract new customers (namely young women, NYU students and long-time East Village residents) and, hopefully, lure Yippies back to the place that once served as their headquarters.

“We want to maintain that beatnik feel, but just a little more upscale,” Mr. Payne said.

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